Which Sports Send the Most Kids to the Emergency Room?

Sports medicine is a big part of what we do at Urgent Orthopedic Specialists. We work together with athletic trainers, coaches, and physical therapists to help athletes from Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, Stanton, Andrews, and other towns to recovery fully and get back on the field or court as quickly as possible.

We recently came across a report from a 2016 report from HealthGrove.com that detailed the number of injuries that sent a player to the emergency room in high school sports. The report broke out national numbers for each sport and the number of emergency room visits. The one thing the report didn’t do was break out the injuries per athlete in the different sports, so sports with larger numbers of participants, such as football, would obviously climb higher in the totals.

Still, there are a few surprises here. Check it out.

The list of the top 20 high school sports by the number of injuries requiring a trip to the emergency room. These were the average number of injuries annually between the years 2002 and 2014.

Bowling — An average of 764 injuries each year.

Rugby — 1,214

Field Hockey — 1,825

Tennis — 1,915

Skiing — 4,752

Ice Skating — 4,999

Horseback riding — 5, 581

Lacrosse — 5,830

Track and field — 8,194

Weightlifting — 8,921

Snowboarding — 9,608

Ice Hockey — 12,336

Volleyball — 14,304

Softball — 18,119

Wrestling/boxing/martial arts — 18. 174

Gymnastics/cheerleading/dance — 22,671

Baseball — 27,208

Soccer — 45,475

Football — 118,886

Basketball — 119,589

Little bit of a surprise there at the top, eh?

Know that if your local high school athlete gets injured in his or her sport, odds are we will be there helping get them the treatment they need, followed by rehabilitation, and then a safe return to the sport. If you have any questions about our sports medicine program, or to make an appointment, please call the team at Urgent Orthopedic Specialists, (432) 520-3020.